*Basic

The Balsakhi program is a program conducted in conjunction with the Pratham program, described previously.[1] It is a remedial intervention program implemented in Mumbai, Vadodara and other places in India.[2] A tutor (balsakhi), usually a young woman recruited from the local community and paid much less than civil service teachers, works with children in grades 2, 3 and 4 who are identified as falling behind their peers.[3]

**Intermediate

The instructor meets with approximately 15-20 children who are taken out of the regular classroom into a separate class for two hours of the four hours school day each day.[4] Instruction focuses on core competencies the children should have learned in the first and second grades, mainly numeracy and literacy skills.[5] The instructors are given two weeks of initial training and a standarized curriculum that is developed by Pratham.[6] The program has positive effects on children's academic achievement. The Balsakhi program improved test scores by 0.14 standard deviations in the first year, and 0.28 standard deviations in the second year in the year 2001.[7] No measurable improvement was found in the program peers in the regular classroom.[8] There is a rapid turnover among the Balsakhi tutors, with each tutor staying on average for just one year. Despite the high turnover among tutors the program results in big improvements in student learning. Therefore, the success of the program is not down to teacher committment.[9]

***Advanced

The Balsakhi program is very inexpensive. The main cost of the program are the tutors' small salaries. It costs around $2.25 per child per year.[10] Due to its efficency and good results the Balsakhi program has been scaled up across India.[11]

Sources

[1] [7] [11] Banerjee, A. V et al (2007). Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol 122. No 3. pp1235-1264. Oxford University Press.
[2] Editors (2017). Balsakhi Remedial Tutoring. Summaedu.org
[3] [9]Banerjee, A. V et al (2004). Balsakhi Remedial Tutoring in Vadodara and Mumbai, India. Povertyactionlab.org
[4] [8]Banerjee, A. V (2007). Balsakhi. MIT. Dspace.mit.edu
[5] Banerjee, A. V (2017). Balsakhi. Harvard Dataverse. Harvard University.
[6] Banerjee, A. V (2003). Improving the Quality of Education in India: Evidence from Three Randomized Experiments. Nber.org
[10] Jameel, A. L (2006) Poverty Action Lab – Policy Briefcase No. 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.